CEO of Automotive Components Holdings stepping down

Now that all of the 17 plants he was charged to close or sell have been spoken for, Al Ver, the chief executive officer of Automotive Components Holdings LLC, will retire effective next Monday.

Ver, 61, of Superior Township, has held the title of CEO of ACH for more than two years and has worked for Ford Motor Co. for 35 years. ACH is a Ford-managed holding company created in 2005 when Ford took back 17 plants from ailing supplier Visteon Corp. with the intention of selling or closing them by 2008.

In Washtenaw County, there are three ACH plants, one each in Milan, Saline and Ypsilanti. The Ypsilanti plant is slated to close next year. Illinois auto supplier Flex-N-Gate has agreed to buy the Milan plant, while the Saline plant is being sold to Wisconsin-based Johnson Controls.

Ver's CEO and chief operating officer duties will be taken over by two people. Current chief financial officer Bill Connelly has been named CEO and Kevin Bicking, currently ACH vice president of powertrain, chassis and climate control operations, will become COO.